Bridge Over Troubled Waters
by WildDandelion
Summary: For seven years, Peeta Mellark had one goal in life: to go back home to Texas and take care of his baby sister Primrose. And he wasn't going to let his parents, a failing calculus grade, or Gale Hawthorne stop him. Modern day AU. Melthorne (Peeta/Gale).
1. On A Lonely Road

**Hey y'all! I'm fairly new to FF (I've always wanted to write a story but either didn't have the time or motivation) so here's a story I've been working on recently. Just a few side notes before we begin. First, this is a M rated, Modern day AU, Peeta/Gale fic. I usually don't pair them together but it's what worked best for the story. Also, you'll probably notice that the characters are slightly OOC. Again this is intentional on my part, but it's all in good fun. I wanted to portray the two main characters a little differently than they are usually depicted. Lastly, throughout the story, there are some implications of rape, sexual assault, suicide, self-harm and child abuse. I will always provide a CW/TW warning beforehand but I just thought it would be better to state it now. **

**Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Of course I don't own The Hunger Games. But I sure wish I did. Plus I don't own the Marvin Gaye song the title is from. And believe it or not, but I've never seen one episode of Breaking Bad so any parallels are entirely coincidental. **

* * *

"Four hundred…four hundred and fifty, five hundred! I think that's a record Mellark."

"Is that with or without the pastries?"

"Without," Johanna says, leaning back into her chair with a satisfied smirk.

Delly lets out a low whistle in astonishment. "I don't even think I've seen five hundred dollars before. We really must be hitting it big this time."

"Which also means that we have to be more careful. I can't risk getting caught, you've seen how Officer Cray has been eyeing us lately. I know that guy is just itching to find anything he can to put on us." Peeta instructs his voice devoid of any happiness or triumph. Before Johanna and Delly started helping him out a year ago, he was used to alarmingly high profits. In fact, this was chump change in comparison to what he used to bring in. Now that he has to split it three ways the money was less than average, but business was taking off.

"Oh come on Peeta, celebrate a little!" Delly pouts, "This is the first time we've made in it past 300 dollars as a group. I think that deserves a little applause. You're always so tightly wound, you need to loosen up a little."

Johanna rolls her eyes and smacks her lightly with the spatula in her hand. "Buck up Cartwright. Not everyone is as happy-go-lucky as you. For you to be a drug dealer, you're the human equivalent of a puppy."

"Well drugs makes people happy, _Mason_," Delly retorts as she rubs her red cheek. "And money makes _me_ happy, whether it's from dealing drugs or not."

Peeta's mouth twitches into a smile despite his annoyance. Delly's enthusiasm was a much needed balance between Johanna's brazen attitude and his cynical demeanor. She was the one who can talk up any customer into buying one of the bakery treats. Although, most of the time that doesn't call for much convincing. The rich kids on the other side of town practically jump at any chance for drugs, no matter how exuberant the cost. But Delly's sunny personality as definitely useful.

"How much closer are you Peeta? You'll be eighteen in less than five months." Johanna asks as she sanitized the spatula she used to hit Delly with before putting it in the dishwasher.

Peeta shrugs, trying to act as nonchalant as possible. He knows he'll be 18 soon. And he also knew that he was not even close to the amount that he wanted to be at. He already had the calculations in his head. So far he had saved up 16,392 dollars since freshman year. And yet that still wasn't enough to get Prim and take care of her for at least a year.

Prim. His only blood relative. His only sister.

Peeta remembered the day that he was taken from her at the foster home, how he cried and begged his adopted parents to see the light and adopt her too. But they didn't. They tried over and over to explain how they couldn't afford to take care of a child_ like that_. How she was too mentally unstable to be in regular society. How it would be better for him to let go of his past–to let go of her–and to live a 'normal and happy' life.

And he hated them for that.

In truth, his adopted parents were actually nice people. Soft-spoken and gentle. They always tried to get him to be happier. Ever since he was young, his parents encouraged him to go outside, play with the other kids, make some friends, go to parties, but it never worked. All he wanted was Prim. He didn't need any other friends because she was his best friend, always and forever. It didn't matter how "mentally unstable" she was made out to be.

It wasn't fair that she was the one who was deemed mentally unstable, they both were after what happened.

Before Peeta was adopted and forced to live in Connecticut, his parents, Prim, and he didn't have the best family life. His father was a high ranking military officer and his mother was a waitress in Houston. They had an odd marriage, his parents. She was straight forward and stern to fault while his father was gentle and caring and so unlike his fellow army men. Peeta had always wondered how in the hell they worked. They were complete opposites and rarely showed any affection to each other even when his father came home.

He just guessed his mother must have loved him in her own, odd way. Because when word got back that his father had been killed in combat, it was his mother who took it the hardest.

And it was Primrose who found her limp body hanging in the back of the small closet in their parent's bedroom.

Of course, any seven year old who found her mother's dead body would be traumatized. But his adoptive parents didn't see it that way. They thought that she was too broken to ever live a normal life.

In some ways, Peeta sympathized with them. They were good, kind people who opened up their hearts and their home to him. After years of fertility issues, all the two wanted was to give a child a healthy, happy life. Why they chose Peeta to do that was beyond him. He assumed that maybe they could deal with one messed up kid, but two was too much.

It didn't matter anyhow. Once Peeta turned 18, he was leaving to go back home and become the legal guardian of Prim himself. As much as he loved Delly and Johanna, he would be happy if never had to step foot in Connecticut for the rest of his life. The day he was adopted, Peeta vowed that as soon as he was old enough, he would return to Houston and take care of Prim himself.

But he needed 20,000 dollars first.

That's why his business started. The idea occurred to him when Peeta was thirteen. At first, he started doing odd jobs around his parent's bakery, sweeping floors, scrubbing dishes, making cookies, anything he could to convince his parents to give him some extra allowance. They always paid him small allowances, finally pleased that he was adjusting to his new life. He never touched the money, even when his parents begged him to use it to treat himself. He always declined, and simply stated that it was for college in the future.

When he was fourteen, his parents finally deemed him responsible enough and allowed him to make goods other than simple sugar cookies. He had been itching to replicate the cheese buns his real father taught him to make years ago. Peeta was too nervous to try the first batch that came out of the oven. He was worried he had missed a step or that he had forgotten one of the few things his father had taught him to do before he died. When he told his best friend Katniss this, he almost expected her to laugh in his face at his paranoia. Instead, she had just squeezed his hand and offered to try it for him.

Katniss' steel grey eyes lit up at her first taste. "Oh my God Peeta, these are amazing!"

Peeta scowled, convinced that she was making a show out of how good the food was because she knew how important to him that he had gotten the recipe right. "You don't have to lie to me you know. I can handle it if you just said they were awful." Katniss was like him in many ways; angry, sullen, and blunt. She didn't care to spare his feelings, even when it came to sore subjects like his family.

Katniss shook her head, moaning as she ate the rest of the cheese bun. "Peeta I'm not lying, these really are incredible. God, what did you put in this, crack?" She grabbed another off the still hot cookie tray and stuffed it in her mouth.

"Would you still eat it if I said yes?" Peeta had joked, a small smirk on his face at her answer.

Katniss laughed and shoved him roughly. "You are a mess Peeta Mellark. And I actually don't know if you can even put crack in food. I've only heard it be done with marijuana."

Peeta raised an eyebrow interest. "Really? How?"

Katniss shrugged. "I don't know. Ask the Morphlings, I bet they know how. And I bet they'll pay a pretty penny to have a drug-infused cheese bun."

The Morphlings where the drugged out rich kids that went to the school a few miles down from Katniss and his' school. They were just like the typical snobby rich kids at Peeta's high school, except ten times richer and ten times snobbier. It wouldn't be surprising if they knew how to make cheese buns with weed in them. And Peeta wouldn't be surprised if they were to buy them either.

The next day, Peeta asked Johanna Mason, Panem High's infamous drug dealer to come to the bakery after school to teach him out to make one. She scoffed at the idea at first, claiming that she wasn't about to help some bored teenager take her business away from her. Despite his typical sullen attitude, Peeta still knew how to charm the pants off a person when he wanted something. Even his shitty life story couldn't take that away from him.

They started slow, Peeta used the money he had saved from working at the bakery to pay Johanna for the drugs. She got her cut and he sold her back any of the goods he made. She sold the baked goods he made to the students at school and gave him back any money he had made.

Business grew, and overtime Delly Cartwright, the innocent step-daughter of the shoe designer, Cinna, had offered her services. She was another one of Peeta's best friends. Her mother wanted her to start working a real job instead of mooching off of her stepfather's money. It took no time for her to a job at the bakery, learning quickly how to make the regular goods the shop sold and the _other_ goods Peeta and Johanna sold.

It worked and it paid him double what he was making at the bakery. He finally had a real chance to leave and become Prim's legal guardian. But there was only one problem. School.

"My parents are convinced that my grades are falling because I'm spending too much time working at the bakery," Peeta says, still ignoring Johanna's question about how much more closer he was to his goal. "They want me to cut my hours."

Delly jumped up immediately in protest. "You can't do that! There are way too many people knocking on our door asking for our goods Peeta!"

"I think I know that Delly," Peeta snapped, immediately wincing at the sharp tone he used at her. Out of all the people in this dreadful town, Delly had always been the sweetest and kindest person he knew. "I'm sorry. It's just I can't think of any way to get around it. They've been so concerned with me getting into college that they don't want me to focus on anything other than school in my senior year."

His parents may be sweet and kind-hearted, but they were also determined. They were constantly pushing him to be the best he can be academically. For years that hadn't been a challenge. School came easily to Peeta and he always was in the top of his classes. He wasn't ignorant to the subtle hints his father dropped about his wish for him to one day attend Harvard or Princeton. Or his mother's comments about how Yale's ocean blue school color would look nice on him.

He didn't even see how it was possible for him to take a break from working at the bakery. His adopted parents were older and unable to work as much as they used to. Even with the secretive side business he ran, they still did have _real_ customers that needed their orders taken.

"Well, you'll just have to find a way around it Peeta. You're so close, you can't let something as simple as grades stop you from leaving." Delly says, swinging her long blonde hair over her shoulder.

"Don't worry Delly," Peeta says, tapping his fingers on the wooden kitchen table in thought. "I'll figure it out. I always do."

…

Another 67. After all the math he has to do counting the money from the drugs he's sold, he's managed to fail math of all things?

Well, not math. _Calculus_. The devil's arithmetic.

Katniss looked back at Peeta from her seat in the front row. She quirked an eyebrow at him, her face asking how he did. He responded with an imperceptible shake of his head.

Unlike Peeta, Katniss actually tried in school. She was just as smart as Peeta was but had to actually study in order to get good grades. She also knew of his situation but distanced herself from Peeta's business. She had a future to look forward to and it was probably at one of those fancy colleges his mother kept slipping pamphlets of under his bedroom door. Her main goal in life was to become a biologist, not to find her long lost sister on the other side of the country. He couldn't blame her for staying away.

But that didn't mean she didn't care. And like Peeta, she was terrible at calculus and couldn't figure out what in the hell a derivative was to save her life.

Mrs. Coin reminded everyone of the homework and dismissed them from class a few minutes early. Peeta assumed she didn't want to be around a bunch of sulking teenagers with the grades most of the class received. And it was good too because the only option left for Peeta was to man up and use his charm to convince Coin to modify her strict no extra credit policy.

Most of the class was failing anyway. At this point, it would be beneficial for her to assign extra credit.

Katniss left without attempting to talk to him, obviously pissed at the grade she received. It was probably better that she left now. The last thing she needed to do was to strangle Mrs. Coin. Peeta waited until only a few other students lingered behind, taking an agonizingly long time to gather his things. He wanted to wait until Coin was alone to start begging. It wouldn't be a good look for other students to see him beg her for a measly extra credit assignment.

Peeta started making his way to Coin's desk when the classroom door burst open and Gale Hawthorne appeared in Coin's room.

Peeta scowled. Gale freaking Hawthorne. Of course.

Gale actually wasn't a bad guy. But he did represent everything Peeta hated most about this town and about Panem High. His father was the CEO of The Seam, the largest banking firm in the northeast. He was the head of all of the most prestigious clubs at the school. Gale Hawthorne was the type to volunteer to feed the homeless just so he could put it on his college resume. In all of his time in the school, Peeta had never seen him repeat an outfit twice. He was the quintessential Panem High student: rich and born with a silver spoon in his mouth.

The people in Panem, Connecticut cared too much about social status and class for Peeta's taste. Back home, he couldn't remember a time where anyone was shunned for how much money they had. His parents certainly weren't rich despite the steady income from his father's job. His mother barely made enough money to keep them afloat. In hard times she even had to resort to cleaning the houses of the elderly couples on the outskirts of the city. But no one looked down on her for doing that. Here, he could only imagine how much of a laughing stock he would be if he ever told a soul his biological mother's past jobs.

Peeta watched Coin's face light up when Gale walked over to her desk. He had _never_ seen a smile so genuine before from her. "Mr. Hawthorne, what can I help you with?"

"Hey, Mrs. Coin. I'm sorry I missed class today, I was helping volunteer for the children's hospital down the street with one of the club's I'm in." Peeta rolled his eyes. Of course, he was. "But I heard that you had given back last week's test."

Coin smiled again. Oddly, enough, Peeta preferred how her face looked when she _didn't_ smile. It looked too out of place for her to look natural. "Of course, I was holding onto it for you." She produces his test, a large 100 circled in red pen on the front. 100? What the hell? How in the world did Gale Hawthorne manage to get a perfect score on one of Coin's tests? "Another hundred for the books Gale. You are easily becoming one of my brightest pupils in all my years of teaching."

He watches Gale smile and thanks her. He takes the paper and turns to leave, but not before he notices Peeta standing there for the first time. His jaw clenches and he walks straight to the door without another word.

Gale Hawthorne felt the same way that Peeta felt about him. But not for the same reasons. Gale hates him because he deluded himself into thinking that he was dating Katniss.

The idea of the two dating was ridiculous. Especially since Peeta knew who Katniss was really dating. And it wasn't him. It was Madge Undersee, the sweet blonde daughter of the mayor of Panem.

Peeta was the only one Katniss entrusted with to know. He truly doubted that anyone would care that she was gay, but he knew that wasn't what she was really worried about. Katniss' family barely made enough to scrape by while Madge lived in the mayor's grandiose mansion in Panem. Madge's father had constantly tried to set her up with men of their 'stature.' Peeta had even heard that Gale was one of the men Mr. Undersee had invited over for a 'friendly' dinner.

It wouldn't look good for Katniss and Madge's relationship to be aired out for the entire school and for Madge's father to find out about. So the most they could do was sneak around. So far, it was the best kept secret in Panem, but Peeta knew that they couldn't keep up that act forever. Eventually, someone would find out and the whole thing would go up in flames.

Peeta only hoped that he was far away from Connecticut when that happened.

But that wouldn't be happening unless he managed to find a way to bring up his grades and convince his parents that he didn't need to spend less time working. And he knew exactly how he was going to do it.

…

Gale stuffed the test from Mrs. Coin in his locker and closed the door to find Peeta Mellark leaning next to him. He almost jumped out of his skin at the sight of the blonde boy and wondered how he managed to sneak up on him without a sound.

"Hey, Gale." Peeta purred, fluttering his long lashes at him. "I couldn't help but overhear you talking to Mrs. Coin about your volunteer work, it sounds really exciting."

Peeta offers him a dazzling smile, one dimple gracing his left cheek. Gale clenched his jaw like he usually did around him. Peeta Mellark was one of the most insufferable people he knew. Not because of his personality, but because he had her. Katniss Everdeen.

It didn't help either that Peeta was whispered about by nearly all of the girls at school.

"It must be rewarding to help those in need." Gale almost vomited at the sugary sweet tone Peeta used. He obviously wanted something.

"Yeah, I guess it is." He straightened his back so that he was staring down at him. The blonde was only a few inches shy of Gale's height. "Look, what do you want Peeta?"

Peeta's cool demeanor shifts for a half a second at Gale's question.

"Well, I saw that you got a 100 on the calculus test, that's pretty impressive. I was hoping you could tutor me some time. Maybe you could even use it to put on your resume as volunteer work." Peeta internally cringed. What had life come to where he was asking Gale Hawthorne to tutor him. Only Prim was worth this much trouble.

Gale stared at him. Peeta Mellark, asking _him_ for tutoring? He couldn't even look at him with seeing red and thinking of how lucky he was to have Katniss. He surprised himself with how steady his voice came out. "Sure. Meet at my place right after school tomorrow."

Peeta snarled behind his back after Gale turned around and walked in the opposite direction.

_His place_.

It didn't slip his mind the slightest arrogance his tone held. Just behind the Mayor's house, the Hawthorne mansion was the most grandiose home in Panem. Gale knew he didn't even need to provide an address for Peeta to know where it was.

Peeta feels a fit of irrational anger began to boil in the pit of his stomach. God, he hated Gale Hawthorne. And he hated calculus.

* * *

"Come on Katniss, please, for me?" Peeta gave her his best puppy dog eyes and got down on his knees before her. She looked down at him in disgust and shook her head, her expression still as rigid and firm as before.

"Are you insane? No, don't answer that because you _are_ insane. There is no way in hell I will cheat on my girlfriend and go on a date with Hawthorne." She shook her again, her nose crinkled in blatant disgust. "I think you must have really lost it this time Peeta."

Katniss repositioned the quiver of arrows on her shoulder and walked around him, heading back towards her original destination to the woods. Peeta had caught her right before the time he knew she liked to go and before his shift at the bakery started. He knew that Katniss would be little hard to convince but he didn't think it was going to be _this_ hard.

"It would only be one date I swear," Peeta says as he brushed the dirt and grass off of his pants. He hasn't begged Katniss like this since they were kids. But when Peeta was desperate, she knows that he would do anything to get his way.

"And then it will turn into two and then three and then the next thing you know he and I will be getting married." Katniss snaps, her voice dripping in sarcasm. "And what about Madge? I could never hurt her."

"You could just tell her." Peeta counters. "I'm sure she'll be understanding of why you're doing it."

Katniss crosses her arms and shifts her weight on her hip. "I know how Madge is Peeta. For one, as much as I love her she can be a bit of a goody-two-shoes. I doubt she'll condone me going on dates with Gale Hawthorne just so I can sneak exam answers to you. And she asks way too many questions for her own good. She'll want to know why you can't just study harder like the rest of us and why you're so hellbent on spending all of your working at the bakery with a well-known drug dealer and Delly Cartwright. What am I supposed to say, that Peeta needs to spend more time at the bakery selling drugs to teenagers than doing his calculus homework? Good God Peeta, you must know it's not that simple."

Peeta looked over his shoulder anxiously. Even though they were on the outskirts of the woods where no one was bound to hear them, he couldn't break the habit. "Then don't tell her about why I need to work at the bakery."

"Madge is a smart girl Peeta, she'll get suspicious and find out eventually. And trust me, you don't want the Mayor's daughter knowing about your little 'business.'" Peeta groaned and leaned up against a tree in defeat. All Hawthorne wanted was Katniss. How hard would it be to go out for lunch with the guy? She didn't even have to kiss him, she just needed to be there.

"I'm screwed."

"Don't say that Peeta. You know that I would help if I could, but me helping you will only get you in more trouble." Katniss sat next to him by the slump of the tree and took off the quiver slung across her shoulder. She tilted her head back against the tree and sighed. "Maybe you should just seduce the guy yourself." She says after a moment.

Peeta snorted. Now that was a funny thought. "In case you forgot Katniss, Hawthorne hates me because he thinks I'm dating you."

"But you're not." Katniss points out. "So I don't see how there's any harm in giving it a try. Look, you're an attractive guy Peeta. Damn near all of the girls and more than half of the guys at school want to bone you. You have that enticingly mysterious brooding thing going on." Peeta stuck his tongue out at her childishly. "Just use some of that Mellark charm on him. And between you and me, for whatever reason, it seems like he hasn't gotten any in a long time. So he'll probably be as desperate as you are."

Peeta thinks it over. Sure, he was used to flirting with people to get what he wanted, and he knew that his looks definitely helped. But having sex in exchange for some exam answers? Not even he could pull that off. He would feel disgusted with himself afterward.

But it wasn't about him. It was about Prim. All of his hard work, all of the secrecy and lies were for her. Katniss was right, he couldn't give up now that he was so close to the end.

He bent down and kissed Katniss on the cheek before embracing her in a huge bear hug. "What was that for?" She asks, her face red from the hug.

Peeta smiles and hugs her again. "For always giving me the best ideas. I have to go but I'll see you around okay?"

He hears Katniss murmur a goodbye right before he sprints back to the bakery.

* * *

Johanna laughed the minute he finished telling her and Delly his plan. She laughed so hard that she was endangered of falling off the wooden bakery stool she sat on behind the counter. Peeta waited patiently for her to finish, already annoyed with her reaction. Delly just sat there, a dumbstruck express on her face.

"God, this is truly rich." Johanna cackled, wiping a stray tear from her eye. "Peeta and Hawthorne going at it."

"Shut up Johanna." Peeta crosses his arms and clenches his jaw in irritation.

"But Peeta, why him? Why does it have to be Hawthorne? Can't you find anyone else?" Delly asks. She wraps the ends of her long blonde ponytail around her forefinger nervously. "I mean isn't his father like a huge CEO or something? Why mess with that type of power?"

"Because Delly," he started, lowering his voice to the same soothing, gentle tone he always used with her when she was nervous. "According to Coin, he gets straight 100's on every test. And he's in the class before us so it'll be nothing for him to give me the answers before I take the test. And you know Coin is too lazy to change the test for each class. It's a foolproof plan really."

"You just better hope you don't get stuck in your own trap Mellark." Johanna quips. "You may have Delly fooled but I know that deep down inside you're a romantic at heart." She stabs him in the chest with her index finger and smirks. "I remember when you had a thing for Katniss and you went all the way to the woods to gather roses for her birthday."

Ugh, he hated being reminded. It's true that he did have a thing for Katniss when they were younger but it didn't matter much now. But he couldn't lie, if Katniss wasn't gay he would still probably be pinning after her like Hawthorne was. She was pretty and knew him better than he knew himself at times. But he respected her too much to ever let them go down that road again.

"Whatever Johanna, I know how to control myself. And besides, it's Hawthorne. He's the last person on Earth who I would have romantic feelings for."

Johanna holds up her hands and shakes her head, a smug smirk still dancing on her lips. "If you say so Loverboy. Now come on, we have business to take care of."

* * *

The next day Peeta was a bundle of nerves for most of the day. He has never been inside the Hawthorne Mansion, let alone spent an entire hour with Gale Hawthorne. And as much as he hated to admit it, he _was_ nervous. Gale made him nervous.

So nervous that he could barely decide on what to wear before leaving for school in the morning. He didn't own any of the fancy clothes that the other kids at school wore. Not because his parents couldn't necessarily afford it, but because he never truly saw the need for it. Now he wished he had let his mother buy him some of the expensive designer clothes that other kids begged their parents for.

In the end, he decided to go for comfort over style. The black, long sleeve dry fit shirt that enunciated his muscles and a pair of black joggers should be good enough. Besides, if he was going just take them off anyway, who cares how he looks?

"You look like death, Peeta. Still sexy, but like you want to purposefully scare him off." Delly whispered during their physics class. "Gosh, you really need to let me help you shop so you can wear clothes other than black sometimes."

Peeta scowled and looked down at his clothes. Shit, she was right. Even his sneakers were black. He looked like he was about to commit a robbery not seduce someone.

"You're lucky you're good looking Peeta," Delly mutters, pursing her lips and rolling her eyes.

Peeta groaned into his textbook and tried to force himself to listen to Mr. Heavensbee talk excitedly about the joys of aerodynamics.

"You look good Peeta," Johanna says when she meets him after school is over. As much as he didn't want to seem anxious over the ordeal, he forced himself to ask Johanna and Delly to walk with him over to the Hawthorne's mansion. He was sure he would chicken out and that was the last thing he needed to do.

"Of course _you_ think he looks good. Seeing Peeta in all black is just probably one of your weird gothic fantasies Mason." Delly hisses.

Johanna shrugs nonchalantly and flips her short hair. "What can I say? I'm a sucker for it. You look lethal Peeta and if Hawthorne likes Brainless I'm sure he'll go for this."

"I hope so," Peeta says dejectedly. This was nerve-racking. Anything could go wrong. He repeated Prim's name over and over again in his head to soothe his nerves.

"Well, I think this is it," Delly says, her blue eyes widening at the large mansion before her.

God who needed such a huge house? It had to be at _least_ four stories, possibly more. It was beautiful and elegantly structured, crowned with two huge marble pillars on each side of the front entrance and a well-manicured lawn dotted with marble garden fountains. But it was too unusually grandiose in comparison to Peeta's modest upbringing. He once thought that his adoptive parents were rich when he first moved to Connecticut. But this was a completely different level of wealth.

Delly kissed him on the cheek and rubbed the spot with her thumb to wipe off her lip gloss. "You'll be fine. For Prim, remember?"

Peeta shakes his head, still at lost for words at the sight of the mansion.

Johanna smacks him on the ass and shoves him forward. "Go get 'em, tiger." She growls mockingly and laughs. "Come on blondie, you and I have some hungry customers to take care of."

She drags Delly way from the mansion and back towards the bakery. Peeta waits until they are far out of sight before ringing the doorbell. It looked like a golden bird and he can't help but roll his eyes. Even their doorbells were extravagant.

He's surprised to see a small girl, no older than five open the door. He was half expecting for it to be a butler or maid on the other side. Not a child clutching a pink teddy bear and sucking her thumb.

Peeta clears his throat awkwardly. "Hi, um I'm here for Gale… Hawthorne. Is he here right now?" God, he was terrible at talking to kids. Or maybe it was just kids who looked exactly like Hawthorne.

The little girls smiled widely at him, revealing a toothless grin. "That's my brother! I'll get him!" She runs up the elegantly curved stairs before he can speak. Peeta stood outside the threshold of the door, not wanting to go inside without anyone's approval. If she were alive, his biological mother would have a heart attack if she ever found out that her son was walking into other people's houses without being formally invited.

Gale appears down the stairs with the little girl in tow. "Hey Peeta, come in."

He lets out A sigh of relief he didn't know he was holding in. He knew it was irrational, but he couldn't help but wonder if Gale would just slam the door in his face once he saw him.

The house was just as gorgeous on the inside as it was outside. But it held a comfortable, homely feeling to it in comparison to the outer parts of the home. It felt lived in, with pictures of the Hawthornes and artistic renderings hanging on the walls. The decor was still far more expensive than anything he had ever been in the presence of. The paintings alone probably put the money Peeta acquired from dealing drugs to shame.

"Posy, why don't you go to the playroom while Peeta and I talk for a while," Gale says, bending down at the little girl's level. People have rooms dedicated just for children to play in? God, he really was poor.

The little girl nodded happily at her brother's suggestion and skipped up the stairs, still clinging to her stuffed bear.

"I didn't know you had siblings," Peeta said, his eyes still trained on the art around him. A stab of jealousy struck his core before he could stop it.

_'Don't think like that Peeta. You may not like the guy but it's not his fault you can't see your sister.'_

"I actually have three. Posy's the youngest and the other two, Vick and Rory are still at school." Gale says, waving aimlessly at one of the framed pictures of the Hawthorne family on the wall. The family of six looked eerily identical, all of them dark-haired and rosy-cheeked, with similar smiles plastered on their faces. They looked like they were posing for a damn Hallmark card; a perfect little family that lived a perfect little life. The thought made Peeta internally gag.

He immediately mentally chastised himself. It wasn't fair to think like that. Not everyone had to suffer as he did. Some people were just fortunate.

It wasn't fair but it was the truth. There were winners and losers in life. It wasn't anyone's fault that he just got the short end of the stick.

"You must love them a lot," Peeta says wistfully. What he wouldn't give to at least hug Prim.

Gale shrugs. "They're okay. Sorry about Posy, she gets a little rowdy whenever there are people over at the house."

Peeta waves him off. If that was considered rowdy here, Prim and his' past antics would be hell itself. They literally played with rattlesnakes like a bunch of wild dogs.

"So let's see what you're having trouble with," Gale says leading him over to the large den area. He takes out a large stack of textbooks and notes and spreads them across his lap. Peeta sits awkwardly on the couch next to him, close enough that he could smell the shampoo from his hair. Thankfully it was just pine and not anything like the disgusting perfumes the apparel teacher Mrs. Trinket wore. It was muted and pleasant.

"Would it be bad to say everything?" He bites his bottom lip, trying to appear shy and vulnerable. Which wasn't necessarily hard. He _was_ vulnerable. "I don't want to take up too much of your time but, if I'm being honest, I'm pretty hopeless when it comes to this stuff."

"Don't worry, my father is at work and my mother would be too but she has to pick up Vick and Rory from school today. Usually, Posy would be at dance practice but the housekeeper who takes her is sick today."

"Housekeeper?" Peeta says slowly. He feels his lip curl in distaste at the word. "Of course you have a housekeeper. I was wondering why it was Posy who answered the door instead of your maid."

_'Too far Mellark. Way too far.'_

"What is that supposed to mean?" Gale growls, his eyes narrowing defensively.

Peeta shakes his head and plasters on a fake smile. He needed to take the bite out of his voice or else he'll ruin the plan before he even got started. "Nothing. Sorry that was rude."

Gale clenches his jaw and his nostrils flare slightly in irritation. "Look Mellark, I know you don't like me."

Peeta is taken aback. Yes, he doesn't like Gale, but he wasn't the one who damn near sneers at him every time he walks by. No, that was Hawthorne. "Me? What about _you_? You are the one who stares me down all the time. You always treat me like I did something to you." Screw the plan, he'll just cheat the old fashion way if it meant getting away from Hawthorne. How can he try to play the victim? Peeta barely gave anything outside of his friends and his business the time of day. Gale was the one who always had a problem with him, not the other way around.

"And I know exactly why too." Peeta taunts, leaning in closer to Gale so that their faces were merely inches apart. "You want Katniss and you're jealous because I have her."

He sees Gale's olive cheeks redden in anger and watches as his Adam's apple bobs up and down as he tries to find his voice. "Get. Out." He says through gritted teeth.

Peeta shrugs his shoulders and stands up. How he managed to piss off Hawthorne in less than five minutes was an enigma to him. It must be a new record. "Fine, kick me out. But just know that you're wrong to think so."

"And why's that?" Gale counters, his face still flushed red.

"Because I don't have her. Katniss and I never dated. And we probably never will."

At this Gale widens his eyes in surprise. "Wait, what?"

Somewhere in the back of his mind, he hears Johanna prodding him to go for the kill. "Really. I mean don't get me wrong, I love Katniss but she's my best friend. And even though I go for both, between you and me, I usually prefer guys."

Peeta can't help but feel smug as he watches the red on Gale's face deepen. But not from anger. This time it was from embarrassment. Katniss didn't want Peeta to tell anybody about her sexuality, but that didn't mean he couldn't tell others about his.

"Does that bother you?" Peeta asks, quirking an eyebrow at Gale and cocking his head playfully to the side. He could practically envision Johanna celebrating at how well he was playing him.

Gale's eyes widen again and he shakes his head. "Oh no, of course not. I just um, didn't know that…" He was flustered and blushing. It was actually kind of endearing in some ways. Maybe this would be easier than he thought.

"Good. Well, then I'm sorry to waste your time." Peeta makes a show out of bending down to grab his stuff from the floor and gives him the perfect view of his ass. He feels Gale's eyes trained on him as he moves. He turns around and heads for the door knowing that before he actually exits, Gale will come crawling back. They always come back to him.

"Wait, Peeta," Gale calls out. Peeta lets himself smirk victoriously as his back is turned. Just like he thought. He wipes the smirk off his face before turning around to face him.

"What is it, Gale?"

"I'm sorry. I didn't know that you were um…" Peeta can't help the small smile that spreads on his face at the unsureness of Gale's voice. How cute. He couldn't even say it.

"Bisexual?" Peeta says, coaxing him gently. "I think that's the word you're looking for." He chuckles at the way Gale's face flushes again at how easy the word flows from his mouth.

"Yeah, that." Gale's voice is gruff and he scratches the back of his head awkwardly. "I really am sorry. I always thought you and Katniss were dating."

Peeta sighs. "You aren't the only one so I can't hold it against you. But maybe next time just asks before you start giving someone the death stare."

Gale takes the books out of Peeta's arms. "Here, let me make up for being an ass. I think I owe it to you anyway."

Peeta smiles his best smile. The one he knew always left the odds in his favor. "If you insist. Lead the way."

* * *

They were only 30 minutes into their study session and Peeta's eyes already were watering over. God, how did Hawthorne manage to understand any of this shit? It wasn't even hard it was just so dreadfully boring.

As Gale rambled on about numbers and concepts, Peeta thought about numbers of his own. The numbers his business was making. So far he had five months and a little over three thousand dollars left to make before he hit his goal. Since he was still splitting the money that would require for all of his free time to be spent working at the bakery. The number of hours he would need to spend working would be enormous. He needed to basically spend every waking hour that wasn't during school working at the bakery. Thankfully, one of the great things about selling drugs is that you don't have to worry about taxes. At least he knows all the money from his share of the work will actually be going only to him.

"Are you listening?" Gale's voice pulls Peeta out of his mental math.

"Yeah of course. You were talking about infinite series right?"

Gale's mouth twitches downward into a small frown. "Ten minutes ago." Well shit.

Peeta tries his best to look remorseful. "Sorry I just have a lot on my mind." _'Yeah, like how much drugs I have to sell by my birthday.'_ "Maybe we should take a quick break, I wanted to ask you something anyway."

"What is it?"

"Why is it that you are so stuck on Katniss? I mean, she's great, don't get me wrong, but you always seemed so hung up on her. I've never seen you date any other girls at school. Or guys if that's what you're into."

Gale flips absentmindedly through the textbook, his grey eyes looking at anything but Peeta.

Peeta waits patiently for an answer, knowing that he can't push him into responding. "Katniss and I used to be friends a long time ago. Her father and mine actually used to get along pretty well until my father became CEO of The Seam."

He doesn't respond, coaxing Gale with his eyes to continue. He never knew that Katniss and he used to be friends. She never mentioned it. Maybe that's another reason why she was so against going on a date with him.

"My father is great at his job but he can be a little…ruthless," Gale explains. "Once he became the head of the company he essentially fired everyone who he didn't think was capable of the job. A lot of parents whose kids go to our school lost their jobs because of him. Including Mr. Everdeen." Peeta cringes. He could definitely understand why the two stopped talking after that. "We grew away from each other but that still didn't make me love her any less. And it definitely didn't help that most of the school thinks Madge and I are dating."

Now, _this_ was news to Peeta. He really must be living under a rock because he never heard that rumor before. But to be fair, he doesn't keep up with any of the childish rumors that go around the school. Even the ones about him he usually finds out about from Delly weeks after they first start. Apparently a few weeks ago many people at school thought that he fucked the entire football team just because he was seen flirting with Cato, the school's star quarterback. Weird. But not completely inaccurate. For their information, it was the basketball team, not the football team. Idiots.

"Why is that such a bad thing?" Peeta asks. Madge was a nice girl and that type of rumor couldn't hurt too bad, right?

Gale shakes his head. "No one wants to date a person who they think Mayor Undersee hand-picked for his daughter. People may love money here, but they're terrified of people with real power. Like the power the mayor and my father have."

That must be rough. Peeta knew what it was like to be an outcast. Even in the foster home, the last place anyone would think that they had the right to feel superior over another person, after word spread of Prim's instability and their mother's death, the other children were wary of the siblings. But he couldn't begin to imagine what it was like to have a large school like Panem High turn against you over the decisions of adults.

Peeta places his hand over Gale's like he used to do with Prim when she was upset. "I'm sorry Gale. Really. I can't even imagine how hard that is for you."

"It's fine. There are some people who have it worst."

Peeta couldn't agree more.

"So…you haven't tried dating anyone else?" Peeta asks through hooded eyes. He was getting close to getting Gale to crack and he could feel it.

The blush that was there earlier on Gale's cheeks returned. He shook his head in answer. "Really?" He feigns shock at Gale's answer. "Oh come on, you're certainly handsome enough." That thankfully was the truth. Gale _was_ handsome. Even with his father's reputation, it was a little shocking that no one ever attempted to catch his eye before. "But even when I told you about my sexuality you started flushing like a bumbling virgin. Unless…" Peeta lifts his features as though he just stumbled across the biggest realization of his life. "You are… aren't you?"

"So what if I was?" Gale counters. His face was so red it looked like someone had dropped hot coals on his cheeks.

Peeta pretends to think it over before creating a facade of indifference. "Nothing's wrong with that. Some people just aren't interested in sex which is understandable. Some people want to wait until marriage. I get that too. I heard that a lot where I'm from but usually people just ended up losing it in the back of an old pickup truck." Peeta gives him a reassuring smile. "But I don't think that you have any of those reasons. Do you?"

"Not really," Gale mutters under his breath. He really was cute all flustered and blushing like this. A much better sight than seeing him raging with jealousy every time he sees him.

"Do you want to have sex?" Peeta prompts, leaning into him and grinning like a Cheshire cat.

Gale groans and puts his head in his hands. "Look, yes alright? But what does it matter? I have more important things to worry about. Like…like school. Or getting into college."

Peeta laughs at his nativity. "Sex is important. You're just saying that because you haven't gotten any."

Gale sneers. "Oh and like you have?"

Oh, how little does he actually know. "I have plenty of times, with plenty of different people. Let's see, first, there was Cashmere. She was a senior when I was a freshman. A little gross now that I think about it, but I wasn't complaining back then. She was gorgeous and literally felt like cashmere down there. Then there was Cecilia. She was so sweet and pretty and definitely in a more appropriate age range for me." Peeta taps his lips thoughtfully, trying to remember all of his sexual conquests, which he had to admit, was fairly hard to do. "There were many others though. The first guy I ever had, Bristel, in sophomore year. Even recently Cato, you know, the football player at our school? He was kind of a prick and definitely not my type but what he lacked in personality he made up for with his huge d-"

"Okay, okay, I get it. You've had sex. I just wish you weren't so open talking about it." Gale says, his eyes narrowing into grey slits.

"Why? It's not a sin to talk about. It's literally just sex."

"Maybe some people just don't want to hear about it."

"Or maybe some people don't want to hear about it because they're sexually frustrated."

Gale's steely grey eyes meet his. "I am _not_ sexually frustrated."

"Well then, let's see how you respond to _this_-" Peeta smashes his lips against Gale's without warning, running his fingers in the back of his short dark locks of hair. After a moment of surprise, he feels Gale fall into the steady pace of the kiss, even moaning into his mouth when Peeta nips at his lip teasingly. Peeta feels Gale's hands traveling further and further down his waist, stopping just at his tailbone. Like any virgin, Gale was just unsure of himself, but Peeta planned on changing that.

"Well, would you look at that. I guess Gale Jr. disagrees with you." Peeta says, eyeing Gale's growing erection. The dark-haired boy shifts awkwardly to hide it but it was no use.

"Fine you're right, okay? I am sexually frustrated." Gale admits.

"Well, I knew that." Peeta rolls his eyes playfully at him. "You didn't even have to say it. I'm pretty everyone in all of Panem knew Gale." He cups Gale's chin gently forcing him to look into his eyes. "You've been so stuck on Katniss that you didn't even see what else you could have. And I plan on fixing that."

Gale scowls and raises an eyebrow. "And how do you plan on doing that exactly?"

"We make a deal. A business deal of sorts. You should be familiar with how they work. You give me exam answers for calculus and I give you all the pleasure you've been denied for years. If you allow it that is."

Gale looks mortified at the offer. "Hell no! That's basically prostitution, right?"

Peeta smirks and rolls his eyes. "Oh please, it's only prostitution if there's money involved. And I'm not selling my body to you per se. I'm teaching you. That is two completely different things." He pauses for a moment. He can't let Gale slip through his fingers now, not when he's made it this far. "How about this. Whenever you're free this week, I'll show you just a fraction of how I can make you feel. No answers, no cheating, no strings attached. Just you and me. Trust me, it's nice having someone else making you orgasm other than just your hand."

Gale's eyes look as though they were about to pop out of his skull.

"Everyone masturbates Gale. It's nothing to be ashamed of." Peeta begins to pack his stuff up. His allotted time to spend at the Hawthorne's mansion was over. He needed to go back to the bakery and help some rich kids get their highs for the week. "It's your call. Are you in or no?"

Peeta waits. Gale's brow furrows in thought and it takes him nearly a full minute before he gives him an answer. "I'm in."

* * *

"So how did it go?" Johanna asks as she kneads the dough for the display case. She usually doesn't handle the food that regular customers eat. Mainly she's the one who handles the weed and the customers who want the weed. But Delly was sick and Peeta needed someone to help with work the restaurant.

"It went well."

"Meaning that…?" Johanna asked impatiently.

"Meaning that in about ten minutes you're doing to have to hold down the fort while I go over to Gale's real quick. Give him a taste of what I can do."

Johanna shakes her head and grins. "I don't know how you do it Mellark. I thought Cato was stretch, this is your finest work yet. You will forever be my inspiration when it comes to the art of seduction. Tell me, how did you manage to bag Hawthorne?"

Peeta bites his lip. He trusted Johanna, more than he trusted anyone else, but he couldn't say that he actually seduced Gale because the poor guy never had sex before. That didn't seem like his information to share. Even with Hawthorne, there where some lines Peeta didn't cross.

"How else do you think I did it? I used the famous Mellark charm." He winked coyly at her and refocused on finishing the last touches of the cake he was frosting.

"So I'm guessing that's code for saying that you're not going to tell me how you did it?"

"A magician never reveals his secrets," Peeta says, his eyes glued to the cake.

"Suit yourself, Houdini." She brushes her hands together to take off the extra flour caked on her skin. "But tell me if it's good at least, okay? I always thought that Gale may be a rich little snot but I bet all of my share this week that that boy can plow like a sledgehammer. What I wouldn't give to ride him into the sunset."

"Classy as always Johanna."

Peeta took off his apron once the cake was complete and brushed off his clothes. Damn, he should have brought another change of clothes. And he definitely should not have worn black again. Delly was right, he _did_ need some color in his wardrobe. Gale would just have to deal.

And deal he did. The minute Peeta arrived at the doorstep of the Hawthorne's mansion, Gale appeared, his grey eyes already dark with lust.

"Someone looks happy to see me." Peeta teased as Gale ushered him inside the house.

Gale is right on his heels, following Peeta like a nervous puppy. "No one is the house right now."

Peeta studies one of the paintings on the wall. It's a vivid portrait of a sunset over a a desert land and rich in color. He thinks it's slowly becoming his favorite. "Good." He pauses, letting the anticipation of the moment build just enough before he destroys it. "Say, do you have any tea?"

The desire in Gale's eyes disappears and is replaced with confusion and disappointment. "Wait, what?"

"Tea. Green tea preferably. It's my favorite." Peeta turns away from him and smiles to himself. The first lesson that Gale had to learn. It was never polite to just _assume_ someone was going to have sex with him just because they came to his house. Peeta could easily change his mind and leave and he would be well within his rights to do so.

Peeta sat on the couch and turned on the television as Gale fetched him the tea. It was fun, messing with him like this. Now if only he could get him to be patient.

He scrolled through channels before finally settling on one of his favorite shows. _Game of Thrones_. Thankfully Gale had the luxury of having HBO right on his TV and didn't need to share with anyone like he and Delly did. The joys of being rich.

Gale returned with a cup full of piping hot tea. "Is this good enough?" Gale groaned.

Peeta takes a sip and pauses. "I guess so. But your attitude isn't. Here, come sit down with me and watch TV." He pats the empty space next to him and almost laughs at how Gale deflates at the lackluster offer.

He finally settles down next to Peeta. "Do you watch a lot of television?" Peeta asks.

Gale pulls a face before remembering Peeta's comment to fix his attitude. "Somewhat. Do you?" Good. He was finally catching on.

"Not really. School and working at the bakery takes up most of my time. But I always so make sure to find time to watch _Game of Thrones_. It's Delly and I's favorite show. I love the power dynamics and action. Have you ever watched it?"

Gale shook his head. He looked lost as to where this was heading. "I couldn't understand it."

Peeta hums thoughtfully into his tea. "Here watch it with me and maybe later I'll explain it to you." Maybe, but not today.

Peeta sets his half-empty cup of tea down on a coffee table nearby and snuggles into Gale's chest. He makes sure to intertwine his and Gale's hand as he gets comfortable. Just so he knew that there was a clear direction of where this would eventually be heading. He feels Gale's heart racing wildly in his chest and he counts the beats in his head. Peeta needed for him to be calm when he made his move. More than that, he needed for him to be _comfortable_.

If he had to be honest, even he was growing a little antsy waiting so long. But as long as Gale's nerves got the better of him, the longer he needed to wait. It's almost fifteen minutes and already five people have died in the show before Peeta finally feels Gale getting comfortable. Peeta waits a few more minutes, making sure that he was too engrossed in the show to anticipate what he was about to do.

The time was perfect.

Ever so slowly, Peeta used his free hand to trail his fingers up and down Gale's arm. He drags his nails gently across his skin, feeling the goosebumps that raise to attention at his touch. After a few more strokes he allows his hand to roam over the hard planes of Gale's chest. Peeta really didn't have any preferences when it came to body type, but it did please him to feel the hard muscles under Gale's shirt.

He lets his right leg hook over Gale's lap. The dark-haired boy looked flustered by but not as jumpy as he did when Peeta opened the door. He looked focused and prepared. Perfect. Peeta turns his body around so that he was facing Gale and sitting in his lap.

The boy's eyes roam up and down Peeta's body and Peeta can feel Gale's hardness beginning to grow against his leg. He needed to slow down. Otherwise, this would be over before it even started.

"Gale, what are you thinking right now?" Peeta asks, slowly grinding on his lap. He was sure his eyes were clouded over with lust like Gale's grey orbs where now.

"That I can't believe I never noticed how gorgeous you are."

Peeta freezes. Usually, when he asks that question it's usually along the lines of how badly the person wanted to fuck him blind or make him scream until he couldn't breathe. Not _how gorgeous he was_. The momentary break in Peeta's focus annoyed him. He needed to play it off. _He_ was the one who controlled the narrative, not Gale.

He gathers Gale's hands in one hand and pushes his arms over his head so that he couldn't touch him anymore. Peeta grinds into Gale's rock hard groin and watches as the man underneath him groans in pleasure. Just to take it a step further, Peeta nips at Gale's earlobe, causing him to buck his hips on instinct.

He pulls his head away to stare into Gale's clouded eyes. Dropping his voice to a low purr he asks, "What are you thinking now?"

Gale moans again, the sound vibrating off of the room's walls. "Just… just how good you feel on me like this." Peeta smirks. That was a better answer.

He grinds harder and faster on Gale, delighted in the sounds spilling out of the boy's mouth. "God Peeta don't stop." Now that he said that, Peeta almost thought about whether he should stop, just to torture him further but decided against it. He didn't want to withhold an orgasm from him. Not yet at least.

"What are you thinking about now Gale?" Peeta asks in a low, teasing growl. He runs his fingers in the hair on the back of his head and plays with the short strands right on the base of his neck. This only drives him wild, and his thrusts became erratic and needy.

"I- I think I'm going to come." Gale pants. His face is flushed and his eyes have rolled back in pleasure.

"Let go, Gale," Peeta whispers in his ear right before licking the sharp cut of his defined jawline like a wild animal. He feels Gale climax, his body tensing and pleasurable waves ride throughout his being. The hardness in the crotch of his pants decreases and he finally feels him relax.

Peeta rolls off of him and returns back to his cup of tea, which to his delight, was still warm. He lets Gale recuperate and finishes his tea before standing up to leave.

Even in his pleasurable daze, Gale grabs his hand before he can go. "Where are you going?"

Peeta smiles as if the answer is obvious. "Back to work. I do have a job you know."

"But- but I thought we were going to have sex?"

Peeta can't help but laugh. Gale could be so painfully cute sometimes. "Not yet babe." He bends down and gives him a quick peck on the lips. "You and me had a deal remember? If you don't like what I just did for you then you're off scott free. The real stuff will happen when I start getting some of those precious answers." He cups Gale's chin playfully and pinches one of his cheeks.

"No! I mean no I did like it." Gale says, his eyes wide with panic. "And I'll get you anything you need."

Peeta smiled. He wouldn't abuse the newfound power he held over Gale. But he definitely appreciated the sentiment. "Good, because you and I have a lot more work to be done. But not today. We need to take it slow and I'm sure your mother would appreciate it if you cleaned yourself up before she got home." He points down to the soiled crotch of Gale's pants and laughs at the look of horror on his face.

Peeta holds out his hand and helps Gale up. "Second lesson of the day. Always walk your sexual partner to the door or offer to take them home. I won't ask you to walk with me because of… that-" he waves to Gale's groin, "But it's the polite thing to do for future reference."

"What was the first lesson?"

"Always be a good host. You failed that one by the way."

"What? That's not even fair!"

Peeta shrugs. "Doesn't matter. I'm teaching you, remember? You shouldn't just assume that when I come into your house I'm just going to make you orgasm with no questions asked. I like to be pampered too you know. And besides, pampering your partner usually leads to better orgasms for you." He winks slyly.

"Makes sense I guess," Gale answers roughly.

"Don't be like that babe," Peeta says, curling his hand on the back of Gale's head. He noticed how every time he ran his fingers through his hair Gale leaned into his touch. That would be useful eventually. "We still have next week. And I'll even leave you with a parting gift."

Peeta stands on his tiptoes and sucks the tender olive skin of Gale's neck, the moans vibrating from his throat spurring Peeta on. He kisses and bites until he's satisfied.

"There," Peeta says, wiping his mouth and standing back to take a better look at his work. "Your first hickey. Now you have something to remember me."

* * *

**Love it? Hate it? Let me know in the reviews :)**


	2. Where Happiness Needs Us

**Back again! Thanks to everyone who read/reviewed the story. It probably doesn't need to be reiterated but this fic is rated M for a reason. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own THG.**

* * *

The next week Peeta focuses all of his time on work. Now that he didn't have to worry about calculus anymore, he was free to spend all of his free time throwing himself into his work at the bakery.

The money was still slow but steady. So far his share was at least two hundred dollars. Much better than last week or the week before.

Next Wednesday, Peeta eyes the clock in the bakery until he leaves for Gale's. Wednesday was the only day of the week that Gale didn't have any of extracurricular activities and when the bakery could spare one less person manning the station.

Something told him that Wednesday was going to be his favorite day.

When Peeta knocks on the door, Gale is there, a smile playing on his handsome face. "Hello, Gale," Peeta says politely. "May I come in?" He was hoping he could instill some manners into Gale before things become… less than polite to say the least.

"Come in." Gale opens the door for him and helps him take off his coat. "I also made you some tea. And it's green tea like last time."

Peeta smiles, pleased at how far they came already. "And," Gale continues, "I got you the answers for the homework and for the quiz tomorrow. Our class is ahead of yours so I thought it could come in handy."

The smile on Peeta's face falters at the papers Gale holds out for him. "We just agreed on exam answers, Gale, you don't have to do this also."

"Your entire grade isn't composed of just tests Peeta. Come on, just let me do this for you."

Peeta was taken aback. He didn't want Gale to think that he had to do anymore for him than what they agreed on. It wouldn't be right, taking advantage of him like this. But he couldn't say no to the pleading look on Gale's face. And besides, _he _was the one who said that he liked to be pampered. So now he was obligated to give Gale the best damn orgasm of his life.

He gingerly takes the papers from his hands and sets them down on the coffee table. "Thank you. But you don't need to feel obligated to do anything other than what we agreed on before. Okay?"

"And what if I _want _to do more?" Gale asks.

What was with him? Why was he being so nice? It just must be the sweet purity of a virgin. Well, he was planning on ruining some of that purity today.

"Come on," Peeta says, intertwining his hand with Gale's. "Can I see your room?"

Gale leads him up the bent staircase for what feels like forever. When they finally reach the third floor, Peeta feels like he just sprinted across a field. God, maybe this was his wake up call. Just because he had abs and a muscular frame didn't mean that he was clinically fit.

Peeta half expected Gale's room to be similar to that of a king. He mentally prepared himself to be thrust into a room with a king-sized bed and sheathed with curtains and angels carved in the wood of the bedpost.

But what he didn't expect was for his room to actually be simple. Just a deep green with white accent pieces and a normal bed. It was simple. It was modest. It was perfect.

"I like your room." His fingers glided over the green bedspread and he smiled softly to himself. "Is green your favorite color?"

Gale nodded. "It reminds me of the woods. Before my father became CEO he used to take me out to the woods and teach me how to hunt. That's actually how I became friends with Katniss."

Peeta looked at him incredulously. "You hunt?" The small details of him and Katniss' relationship were slowly starting to make sense. How she managed to keep this a secret for so long was beyond him.

"Not much anymore. With school and all. But I still know how to make a good snare."

Why did school always have to get in the way?

"Well, I could have really used you back at home. Too many snakes lived around my house." He pulls Gale towards him and kisses the faint bruise on his neck. He leans forward and drops his voice to a low growl. "Maybe one day, I'll fuck you in the woods."

He feels Gale stiffen at his words. "That is if you're not shy about the possibility of a squirrel seeing you writhing under my touch and moaning my name." His hand snakes downward until it brushes against Gale's crotch.

"No," Gale moans his hips leaning into Peeta's hand. "I'm not shy."

"Are you shy about me seeing you then?" He looks up at Gale with wide eyes. The hardest part is always getting them naked for the first time. He would know. With Cashmere, he could barely stop himself from covering up every time she saw him nude.

Gale stiffens again, but not in the way he hoped. "I- I um…"

Peeta rubs his thumb over Gale's bottom lip soothingly. "It's okay if you don't want to. I'll always respect your boundaries, you know that right?"

And he meant it too. He had his fair share of unwanted advances before. There where even a few that didn't stop when he said no too. He didn't want that for Gale. If they were going to do this they needed to have clear and open communication about what was okay and what wasn't.

"I do, I promise."

Peeta pursed his lips. "Don't just say that Gale, I need you to mean it."

He surprises him when Gale takes his face into his hands and kisses him softly on the lips. "I mean it." And Peeta could see in his eyes that he did.

"Good. If anything I do makes you uncomfortable, just tell me to stop and I'll stop, no questions asked."

Gale nods and Peeta starts with his neck first. He wanted to add a twin to Gale's throat before he began, marking him just enough so that he wouldn't forget who gave him these bruises. He lets his hand work his way underneath his shirt and up the soft skin of his chest. He could feel every defined muscle now that there was no clothing separating his hand from Gale's skin. He was in way better shape than he previously thought. Peeta envisioned what he looked like underneath all of his clothes and his mouth watered in anticipated.

He could feel Gale growing harder with each suck and caress. He was almost ready for his favorite part, one of the few sexual acts Peeta prided himself in doing. If Gale wasn't a goner now, he would be by the time Peeta was done with him.

Slowly Peeta lets himself sink to his knees in front of Gale, his face eye level with his straining groin. He looks up and sees Gale staring down at him with wide eyes. He almost looked frightened about what was about to happen. "Do you trust me?" Gale nodded wordlessly but that wasn't enough for him. "I need you to say it, Gale. I won't do anything without clear and verbal consent. So if you want this, you'll have to tell me."

"I want you to," Gale says breathlessly.

Of course, it wouldn't be any fun if Peeta couldn't tease him a little bit also. "You want me to do what Gale?" Peeta tilts his head innocently to the side and traces the outline of his erection with his finger. "You want me to suck your dick so good you won't be able to think straight?"

Gale nods again and he's panting harder than before at Peeta's words. "Yeah, that."

"You have to say it, Gale." Peeta teases in a sing-song voice.

Gale groans and leans his head back into the wall behind him. "I want you to… suck my dick until I can't think straight."

"Well. If you insist." Peeta eases Gale's jeans off his hips and traces the deep 'V' on his abdomen with his tongue. He lets his fingers dance teasingly around the waistband of his underwear, allowing him enough time for him to back out if he needed. When he doesn't, Peeta hooks his fingers on the band of his underwear and exposes him to his eyes.

_Well shit_. Fully erect and swollen at the tip, Peeta can't help but lick his lips. He should have known better than to underestimate him. Forget Gale, this deal was going to be more pleasurable for _him _in the end.

Peeta takes a tentative taste of the tip of his cock. He never liked cum in his mouth but he just may bend his own rules for Gale. At least just this one time. He deserved to get a mindblowing blowjob for his first time. Gale mewls in pleasure at the sensation of Peeta's tongue him. Peeta wraps one hand around the base of his manhood before taking him fully in his mouth.

He looks up at Gale to him staring down at the sight below him, his chest heaving at the feeling of Peeta's ministrations. Peeta uses his free hand to guide one of Gale's to the back of his head. Unlike some people, Peeta didn't mind when guys grabbed his hair as he pleasured them. If anything it only made him work harder.

He lets his tongue glide over the smooth skin, taking his time tasting him and feeling the weight of him in his mouth. Gale finally lets go of his unsureness and lets the primal instinct Peeta had been waiting for to take over. He begins to buck into his mouth and grabs fistfuls of Peeta's long curly blond hair as he thrusts into him.

Just as he feels Gale about to burst at the seams, Peeta helps take him completely over the edge.

He begins to sing.

The vibrations from Peeta's throat and Gale's bucking come together perfectly, and Gale barely has time to let out a warning before climaxing in the back of his throat. Peeta tries not to shudder and continues his actions until he's completely flaccid. When he's done he pulls Gale's underwear and pants back on for him before standing up.

"So?"

"Wha- what was that…that thing that you did right before I…"

"Right before you came into my mouth?" Peeta teases. "Which by the way you should know that I usually don't like cum in my mouth. I won't hold it against you and since it was you're the first blowjob I wanted to make it better for you. But next time, be a dear and just cum on my face like regular people do."

Gale flushes and he cringes. "Sorry."

"Don't apologize, like I said I did it for you. And to answer your question I was singing. Sometimes the vibrations are what puts people over the edge."

Gale pauses thoughtfully and hums in understanding. "I thought so. It sounded very melodic. Can you sing?"

Peeta furrows his eyebrows. "I've been told I can carry a tune. But don't expect me to sing for you. I only do it for-"

He almost chokes on her name. Peeta only ever sang for Prim, whenever she had nightmares. It was worst in the foster home. He remembers staying up late, singing until his voice was raw because her nightmares were so bad. He wondered if she had anyone now that could sing for her when her nightmares plagued her sleep. Tears sprang in the back of his eyes and he blinked them away rapidly before they fell down his face and he burst out in tears like a fool in Gale Hawthorne's fancy mansion.

"Nothing, just forget it. Same time next week?" He makes a move to the door but Gale grabs him by the arm just before he leaves.

"I'm sorry if I made you upset Peeta. I won't ask you to sing for me, I promise." Peeta nodded dully. What he wouldn't give for him to be back home. "And I wanted to walk you home since I'm not soaked in my own cum this time."

"Oh Gale, you don't have to." Peeta's heart breaks just a little at his kindness. Every time he thought about Prim he became more emotional than usual. Typically he would just hole himself up somewhere and wait for it to pass, but with Gale here he couldn't very well do that.

"Come on, just let me do this for you. Especially after that. And wasn't it you who said that it was the polite thing to do to take your sexual partners home afterward." Gale's voice lifts in a teasing tone and Peeta gives him a small smile for his memorization.

"You're a fast learner."

"But you're a better teacher. Come on, let's go."

Gale leads him back towards the bakery. It was only a ten-minute walk and it was refreshing to be outdoors again. "I hope you don't mind that I'm taking back to the bakery instead of your house. I'm not too keen about being surrounded by snakes."

Peeta looks at him in confusion. "Snakes? What are you talking about?"

This time Gale looks confused. "I thought you said that your house was surrounded by them a while ago."

"Oh!" Peeta laughs softly. At least he knew Gale was listening to him. That was more than the other people he's had sex with have done. "No, that was my old home. I um… I'm not actually from here." He hoped that wouldn't lead to too many questions. Talking about his old life was always a sore subject. He couldn't risk having more people know the personal details of his life. Especially people with rich and powerful fathers who are buddies with the Mayor of Panem.

"I thought so, you have an accent." Peeta groans at this. He never did like his accent and hoped that it was undetectable by others. "Aren't you from Tennessee or Tallahassee? I think that's what Katniss had told me once."

He can't help but laugh again. Tallahassee? What in the world did Katniss tell him? As unusually observant as Gale has been, this was one critical detail he had missed. "I'll tell you this, it sure ain't Tallahassee. But if you must know I'm from Texas." Gale's eyes widen slightly in surprise.

"Really? I never pinned you as a Texan. You don't fit the stereotype." Peeta shoves him to the side and laughs.

"Not all of us Texans are made the same trust me. And back home, because we basically lived in the country, there were rattlesnakes that always wandered into our yard. It would definitely have helped to have a few good snares lying around. Then maybe my dog would still be alive." He still remembers the shock of coming home from school and seeing his prized German Shepherd dead from a rattlesnake bite. If there was one thing he didn't miss about Texas it was those damn snakes.

"I'm sorry."

"For my dog or for me?" He joked. It was water under the bridge now.

"Mainly for the dog. But I guess a little bit for you as well.'' Peeta rolls his eyes and smiles. Who knew that he could find a friend in all of this?

A friend. Gale was a friend and nothing else. A friend who he gave mind-blowing orgasms and blowjobs to. People had those, right?

He couldn't let this get too far. Now that he realized that Gale was a genuinely nice guy, he didn't want to see him get hurt. And to be honest, Peeta didn't want to be hurt either. This was a business deal, not a friendship. And like any good business partner, he had to draw the lines before someone got hurt.

Just as they reached the steps of the bakery, Peeta leaned up and kissed him on the mouth. He needed Gale's full attention for this.

"Gale. I need you to promise me something."

Gale's eyes close halfway and he begins to lean in for another kiss before Peeta cups his chin and forces him to look him in the eyes. "I'm serious Gale."

This time he knows he has his attention. His grey orbs are sharp and focused at the commanding tone of Peeta's voice. "Anything."

"I need you to never ask me again about my life in Texas. No questions or information that I don't willingly give to you. Can you promise me that?"

He feels Gale pull back and he stops him from moving too far by curling his hand in his hair. "Gale, can you promise me?"

He waits a moment. He knew it was an odd question to ask but it was a necessary one. He couldn't have Gale knowing anything about how he got to Connecticut, why he was leaving, and how he was planning on leaving.

"I promise I won't ask you about your life in Texas." Peeta breathes out a sigh of relief. He leans upward to peck him on the lips for his obedience before Gale pulls his lips away from his by the curls of his hair. "That is if you don't ask me about my father."

And there it was. Gale knew how to play the game too. It was easy to forget in the throes of passion that Peeta made him feel that he was benefitting from this ordeal as well. They both had terms that needed to be agreed on, but he just didn't think that Gale would start negotiating so soon.

Well, good for him. If there was anything Peeta wanted him to learn in their time together was to know how to communicate his boundaries. That way he could avoid being in the situations Peeta found himself in previously.

"Agreed. I won't ask about your father." Peeta licks his lips, a question that he had had since last week burning at the tip of his tongue. "Gale, can I ask you something?" Gale gives him a suspicious look before his head nods slightly in agreement. "It's not about your father I promise."

"Then what is it?"

His teeth worry his bottom lip before he works up the nerve to ask. "It's just… last week with the kiss and all…I never asked you if it was okay. If you know what I mean."

The suspicion in his flinty grey eyes dulls in confusion at this. "You mean when you had first came over?"

Peeta nods, feeling the tips of his ears burn. "And then the next day on the couch. And even today with, _that_." He mentally curses himself for the explosion of color that graces his cheeks at the implication. He was used to talking about sex and it had been him who had found it amusing how pure Gale was. "Besides today when I had forced you to respond, you never told me if it was okay. And I never asked."

A flash of amusement reflects in Gale's eyes. "You don't have to ask." Peeta opens his mouth to protest but it quickly interrupted but Gale's soft, deep laughter. "And I didn't mind, not at any point. Quite the opposite actually. I loved it."

"But you'll let me know if you don't, right? Or if I ever make you uncomfortable?"

Gale smiles again, the humor drained out of his expression and replaced with a confident, handsome smile that sends jolts of desire south of his body.

"If that's what you want then, of course, I will Peeta. If you want me to describe in detail about the effect that you have on me then that's what I'll do. Just like I won't ask you questions that you don't want to answer. I promise." Peeta sighs and the vice-like grip in his chest relieves the pressure on his heart.

He smiles devilishly. "Now can I have that kiss I've been waiting for?"

Gale lets go of his hair and captures his lips in his mouth. It felt good to have secrets. And it felt good to openly let someone know that he had those secrets. Being with Gale was slowly starting to feel _good_.

And out of everything, that was beginning to become Peeta's biggest secret of all.

* * *

A 95. Take that Coin. A smug smirk creeps onto his face at the grade. He made sure to miss two questions to throw off any suspicion but it didn't matter. He'll take a 95 any day over a 67.

Even though it was just a quiz and not a test grade, Gale was proving himself to be worthy of keeping up his end of the bargain. He didn't ask any questions about Peeta's life in Texas and he gave him the correct answers in calculus class.

To top it all off, business was taking off. It was homecoming this week and all the rich kids across town were pouring into the bakery to buy freshly baked edibles. At this rate, he'll be reaching his goal just before his birthday.

Unfortunately, he still had to convince his adopted parents to not give him anything for his 18th birthday. As much as he resented their decision to leave Prim behind all those years ago, he didn't want them to waste any money on him just to be gone by sunrise. It wasn't fair to them. But he couldn't very well tell them that by the time he will have turned 18, all the money he's made from his secret drug business was enough to buy him a plane ticket to Texas and to become the legal guardian of his baby sister.

Maybe he could ask them to just use the money on themselves instead. Convinced them to take a few days for them to go on a romantic getaway trip out of town and to let him have the house to himself for the weekend. That'll give him enough time to get everything together. For once, he's glad that his birthday fell on Valentine's Day.

Prim always gushed about how romantic it was that Peeta was born on the 14th of February. She used to comment about how lucky he was for his unusual birthday date. He personally never saw the allure of the date or the holiday itself. Valentine's Day never was celebrated in his home before he was adopted. With his father being away all the time, it usually was the one day of the year where his mother was more of a pain in the ass to him than usual. While everyone else's wives were spoiled and pampered, his mother scrubbed the floors of houses and waiting tables to couples all day.

He just hoped that he wouldn't be as bitter as she was one day.

And maybe he wasn't so bitter. At least not on Wednesday's.

Being with Gale was fun. It was enjoyable teasing and taunting him, drawing out pleasurable moans or breathy pants. Seeing his cock spring to life in his pants without even touching him. Watching his handsome face twist and contort with each wave of desire that only Peeta can give to him.

It was fun, but Peeta wanted it to be more than fun. He wanted it to be spontaneous. He wanted Gale to think of him when he least expected it. He wouldn't go as far as screwing him in the bathroom stalls at school. That was too dangerous and frankly, too disgusting for his tastes. But that didn't mean they had to stick to the confines of the Hawthorne mansion either.

Ever since he dated Rue last year, spontaneity was just as important as sex itself. Delly always urged him to loosen up an have fun, and the truth was that he did with her. She was the only person Peeta had ever actually dated. For six months, she was the one person who made him truly happy. She was fun and adventurous and there was never a dull moment with her.

Until he had to end things because she became too curious about what he was doing outside of school.

That was one of the many things Peeta regretted since he had moved to Connecticut. Having to have secrets with genuinely good people. Only Katniss, Delly, and recently Johanna knew everything. They were the only people Peeta could trust with his life. They were the only ones he wanted knowing him inside and outside.

But that was starting to change. All because of Gale Hawthorne.

A few weeks ago, Peeta would have laughed in the face of anyone who said that he would one day enjoy being in the company of Gale. Now it was almost uncanny how comfortable Peeta felt around him. The mere presence of Gale excited him. The smell of pine in his hair, his hands, rough and calloused from years of making snares, his steel grey eyes that looked almost black right before he was about to climax.

It was all he could do it stop him from thinking out Gale's dark lust filled eyes every waking moment of the day.

"A 95?" Katniss says, peering over at the graded quiz on Peeta's desk. She tsks and shakes her head. "You are a shameless soul Peeta Mellark."

Peeta snickers and stuffs the quiz inside his bookbag. Maybe he should slip it under the door to his parent's room tonight. "A little harsh, Kat. You can get dibs too if you want. I don't mind." He follows Katniss out of the school and to the parking lot. It was Wednesday and he wanted to switch things up a bit for Gale. It was finally time to take him on a joy ride.

"No thanks. I'll just fail like an honorable person. But tell me, is it really that good?" Katniss grins conspiratorially at him, her eyes bright with curiosity.

"I wouldn't know. We haven't had sex yet."

Her jaw drops and she looks at him as if he's just grown two heads. "You mean to tell me you two haven't had sex yet but you already have him doing your homework and giving you test answers?"

Peeta grins cheekily. "You should never doubt the powers of the Mellark charm." He doesn't tell her the things they have done already. Like the several blowjobs, handjobs, and grind sessions Peeta has given him."I can be very convincing when I want to be."

Katniss snorts. "Yeah, I bet. Look are you riding home with me or are you going out with your boy toy this afternoon?"

"Don't wait up for me. My business partner and I will be heading out for an afternoon stroll." She laughs and rolls her eyes at his antics.

She leans up and wraps her arms around his neck. "Be safe and don't wear him out too quickly."

Peeta doubts he can keep that promise.

He waits by the car that he's seen parked in front of the Hawthorne's mansion before. It's a sleek black luxury car that Peeta couldn't name the brand of if his life depended on it. Far more expensive than his car at home. In less than five minutes Gale appears his keys in his hands and a surprised expression on his face.

"Peeta, are you okay?" He was hoping Gale wouldn't be too busy before their usual time together. Today's session was going to be slightly longer than the others.

"Oh, I'm fine. I was just wondering if you were busy at the moment. I know this is a little earlier than when we usually meet for our study session but I can wait if you want." Please say no. Please say no.

Gale shakes his head, slightly pleased at the offer. "No, it's fine."

"Good. I was actually wanting to grab something to eat." Gale unlocks the car and opens the door for him. Peeta makes a mental note to reward him for remembering his manners. Once Gale is seated beside him he asks, "Have you ever had southern food?"

"You mean like barbecue? I think so. But I'm guessing it's nowhere as good up here as it is… you know back home." Gale makes sure to steer clear of any mention of what 'home' was and Peeta appreciated it. But talking about food shouldn't be any cause for alarm.

"Barbecue is one of them. And you're right, back home we used to eat Louisiana Creole food, catfish, Tex-Mex-"

"Tex-Mex?"

Peeta stops, shocked that he's hasn't had it before remembering that the cuisine probably wasn't very popular outside of Texas. "It's like, Texan and Mexican food combined. The Tejanos—people from Texas with Mexican descent— created it. Trust me once you had it you'll be hooked. But there aren't any restaurants up here that sell it, and I can't cook it worth a damn. But thankfully there's one restaurant that sells pretty authentic southern food. And that's where I'm taking us."

"I didn't even know there were southern style restaurants in Panem." Peeta looks at him incredulously before he explains. "My family doesn't eat out much but when we do it's always somewhere near the Mayor's house."

Ugh, of course. The only restaurants near there were overly extravagant and high end. Peeta wonders briefly if this was purposely done by his father and Mayor Undersee but he doesn't ask. Gale had respected his boundaries and he had to do the same.

"Well, today you'll get your first taste of real southern style food. Sae's isn't too far from here and it's arguably the best food in Panem." He sneaks his hand over Gale's crotch once they hit a red light. "And then, maybe later we can start studying."

* * *

**Let me know what you think! **


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